NEED TO KNOW
- King Charles has directed that the former Prince Andrew’s appointments to the Order of the Garter and Royal Victorian Order be canceled and annulled
- The Dec. 1 statement backdates to an Oct. 30 announcement about removing Andrew’s royal titles and honors
- Andrew had been appointed to the prestigious positions by Queen Elizabeth
King Charles has officially removed the remaining royal honors of his brother, the former Prince Andrew.
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On Dec. 1, The Gazette published an entry revealing that the King had instructed that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s name be erased from the registers of the Order of the Garter and the Royal Victorian Order.
The Gazette is the official public record of the U.K., and a note at the end in parentheses specified that the entry was “to be dated 30 October 2025.” Oct. 30 was the date that Buckingham Palace announced King Charles had launched the process to remove the former Prince Andrew’s style, titles and honors.
The message was published by the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood, which administers state honors in the U.K., via St. James’s Palace in London.
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“THE KING has directed that the appointment of Andrew Albert Christian Edward MOUNTBATTEN-WINDSOR to be a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, dated 23 April 2006, shall be cancelled and annulled and that his name shall be erased from the Register of the said Order,” it said.
“THE KING has directed that the appointment of Andrew Albert Christian Edward MOUNTBATTEN-WINDSOR to be a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, dated 19 February 2011, shall be cancelled and annulled and that his name shall be erased from the Register of the said Order,” it concluded.
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The Gazette referenced Andrew by his full name, as the palace previously clarified that he will be called Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after losing his title as prince.
His former ranks as a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter and Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order were honors appointed by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth.
The Order of the Garter is Britain’s oldest and most senior order of chivalry, while the Royal Victorian Order is awarded in recognition of exceptional service to the sovereign and the royal family, in the U.K. and across the Commonwealth. Membership in both orders is prestigious and exclusive.
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The updates come after Andrew, 65, announced that he was surrendering use of his royal titles and honors in a shocking statement on Oct. 17. The move was made around renewed scrutiny of the alleged depth of Andrew’s connection to the late Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died while awaiting trial in August 2019.
Andrew stepped back from his royal role in November 2019 following an infamous BBC interview in which he discussed his relationship with Epstein. Queen Elizabeth then stripped her second son of his military titles and patronages in January 2022, after a judge rejected Andrew’s attempt to have Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre’s sexual assault lawsuit against him dismissed.
He settled with Giuffre out of court for an undisclosed sum and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. She died by suicide at age 41 in April of this year.
The palace announced that the King started the process of removing Andrew’s titles on Oct. 30, and on Nov. 3, the transition was made official in a Letters Patent published by the Crown Office in the Gazette.
